The holidays are stressful

5 Tips For Stress Management

Stress is a constant in our lives – the trick is learning how to manage it. Areas that typically cause additional stress in our lives are: 1) work 2) relationships 3) finances and 4) physical demands. Your outlook on things is a key ingredient to reducing.

Here are some practical tips to help you:

• Hang around happy people!

There are so many great benefits to having a good laugh; it is truly the best medicine. Laughing reduces stress hormone levels while simultaneously increasing health enhancing hormone levels. Laughter also provides a good aerobic exercise! So laugh a little, or a lot, it will always do you good.

• Obey your budget, not your impulses

You may want to lavish your family and friends with gifts year round, but before making an impulse purchase, figure out what you can spend and stick to that number. Listen to the little voice that tells you when you are going overboard. Don’t go into a hole that you will be digging out of for months to come. If you are on the other side of the coin and have “money to burn”, please be wise with your spending. Spread the wealth by helping others.

• Learn how to Say No

Saying yes to projects to please someone else can make you feel overwhelmed and miserable. If you really can’t get out of it, remove something else on your list and give yourself the gift of time.

• Catch Your Breath

Make time for yourself. In this day and age, we all move at the speed of light, so don’t forget to wind down and find time for you. Do whatever relaxes your mind, even if it is for just 15 minutes.

• Realize nobody is perfect

Life is not a TV show. In the small screen make-believe world, characters don’t have real life stresses such as; children’s activities to attend, dinners to prepare, phone calls to make, people to pick up after, deadlines to meet - all in one day.

We can manage most of the things that life hands us if we allocate the time needed and stick to our schedule.

Decide to make the most of each day. You’ll have a great time if you do everything in your power to make it happen.

Thanks to our friend Kat Scrivner for sending this along!